History of Indian philosophy
Hindu philosophy Indian philosophy Ancient Indian philosophy The ancient Indian philosophy is a fusion of two ancient traditions : Sramana tradition and Vedic tradition. Vedic philosophy Indian philosophy begins with the Vedas where questions related to laws of nature, the origin of the universe and the place of man in it are asked. In the Vedic view, creation is ascribed to the self-consciousness of the primeval being (Purusha). This leads to the inquiry into the one being that underlies the diversity of empirical phenomena and the origin of all things. Cosmic order is termed rta and causal law by karma. Nature (prakriti) is taken to have three qualities (sattva, rajas, and tamas). * Vedas * Upanishads * Hindu philosophy Sramana philosophy Jainism and Buddhism are continuation of the Sramana school of thought. The Sramanas cultivated a pessimistic worldview of the samsara as full of suffering and advocated renunciation and austerities. They laid stress on philosophical concepts like Ahimsa, Karma, Jnana, Samsara and Moksa. Cārvāka (Sanskrit: चार्वाक) (atheist) philosophy, also known as Lokāyata, it is a system of Hindu philosophy that assumes various forms of philosophical skepticism and religious indifference. It is named after its founder, Cārvāka, author of the Bārhaspatya-sūtras. Classical Indian philosophy In classical times, these inquiries were systematized in six schools of philosophy. Some of the questions asked were: * What is the ontological nature of consciousness? * How is cognition itself experienced? * Is mind (chit) intentional or not? * Does cognition have its own structure? The Six schools of Indian philosophy are: * Nyaya * Vaisheshika * Samkhya * Yoga * Mimamsa (Purva Mimamsa) * Vedanta (Uttara Mimamsa) Ancient Indian philosophers 3rd millennium - 2nd millennium BCE * Parashara — writer of Viṣṇu Purāṇa. * Vyasa — author of the Mahabharata, as well as a character in it. Philosophers of Vedic Age (2000–600 BCE) * Rishi Narayana — seer of the Purusha Sukta of the Rig Veda. * Seven Rishis — Atri, Bharadwaja, Gautama, Jamadagni, Kasyapa, Vasishtha, Viswamitra. * Other Vedic Rishis — Gritsamada, Sandilya, Kanva etc. * Rishaba — Rishi mentioned in Rig Veda and later in several Puranas, and believed by Jains to be the first official religious guru of Jainism, as accredited by later followers. * Yajnavalkya — one of the Vedic sages, greatly influenced Buddhistic thought. * Angiras — one of the seers of the Atharva Veda and author of Mundaka Upanishad. * Uddalaka Aruni — an Upanishadic sage who authored major portions of Chāndogya Upaniṣad. * Ashvapati — a King in the Later Vedic age who authored Vaishvanara Vidya of Chāndogya Upaniṣad. * Ashtavakra — an Upanishadic Sage mentioned in the Mahabharata, who authored Ashtavakra Gita. Philosophers of Axial Age (600–185 BCE) * Kanada (c. 600 BCE), founded the philosophical school of Vaisheshika, gave theory of atomism * Mahavira (599–527 BCE) — heavily influenced Jainism, the 24th Tirthankara of Jainism. * Pāṇini (520–460 BCE), grammarian, author of Ashtadhyayi * Kapila (c. 500 BCE), proponent of the Samkhya system of philosophy. * Badarayana (lived between 500 BCE and 400 BCE) — Author of Brahma Sutras. * Pingala (c. 500 BCE), author of the Chandas shastra * Gautama Buddha (c. 480 – c. 400 BCE), founder of Buddhist school of thought * Chanakya (c. 350 – c. 275 BCE), author of Arthashastra, professor (acharya) of political science at the Takshashila University * Patañjali (c. 200 BCE), developed the philosophy of Raja Yoga in his Yoga Sutras. * Shvetashvatara — Author of earliest textual exposition of a systematic philosophy of Shaivism. Philosophers of Golden Age (184 BCE – 600 CE) * Gotama (c. 2nd–3rd century CE), wrote Jaimini, author of Purva Mimamsa Sutras. * Dignāga (c. 500), one of the founders of Buddhist school of Indian logic. * Asanga (c. 300), exponent of the Yogacara * Bhartrihari (c 450–510 CE), early figure in Indic linguistic theory * Bodhidharma (c. 440–528 CE), founder of the Zen school of Buddhism * Siddhasena Divākara (5th Century CE), Jain logician and author of important works in Sanskrit and Prakrit, such as, Nyāyāvatāra (on Logic) and Sanmatisūtra (dealing with the seven Jaina standpoints, knowledge and the objects of knowledge) * Vasubandhu (c. 300 CE), one of the main founders of the Indian Yogacara school. * Kundakunda (2nd Century CE), exponent of Jain mysticism and Jain nayas dealing with the nature of the soul and its contamination by matter, author of Pañcāstikāyasāra (Essence of the Five Existents), the Pravacanasāra (Essence of the Scripture) and the Samayasāra (Essence of the Doctrine) * Nagarjuna (c. 150 – 250 CE), the founder of the Madhyamaka (Middle Path) school of Mahāyāna Buddhism. * Umāsvāti or Umasvami (2nd Century CE), author of first Jain work in Sanskrit, Tattvārthasūtra, expounding the Jain philosophy in a most systematized form acceptable to all sects of Jainism.